Warm-up
Respond to the following quotation in a minimum of
4 sentences.
What does the quote mean?
What argument is W.E.B. Du Bois making?
“What do nations care about the cost of war, if by
spending a few hundred millions in steel and
gunpowder they can gain a thousand millions in
diamonds and cocoa?”
― W.E.B. Du Bois
Unit 6: US Imperialism, The
Roaring 20s, and the Great
Depression
(1890s-1939)
American Imperialism
Quick Review…
• What President first tried to exert
American influence in world affairs with
his 1823 “doctrine?”
• Monroe Doctrine… what did it declare?
• The U.S. has an
interest in Latin
America
• The U.S. will not
allow European
nations to interfere
with or further
colonize the region
 What expansionist theory
gained popularity in the U.S.
in the 1830s and 1840s as
Americans moved westward?
 Manifest Destiny…
which means?
 The belief that God granted
Americans the right to possess all of North America
• With all of North
America settled,
what did
expansionists
want to do now?
So, what is Imperialism?
What does imperialism mean?
Does Empire have a positive or
negative meaning?  or 
What famous empires can you
think of?
What is Imperialism?
Stronger nations extend their political, military,
and economic control over weaker territories
(key word: CONTROL!!!)
•What were the causes of American
Imperialism?
•Another way to put this…
•What were the reasons the U.S. became an
imperialistic nation?
ANY GUESSES??
IMPERIALISM – other definition(s)
 1. Imperialism = the quest to build up a
territorial empire.
 2. Imperialism = control by powerful
nation(s) over a less advanced area.
Why U.S. Imperialism?
• Well, there are many reasons…
Reason #1. Initially, it was a response to European
Imperialism (competition with western rivals)
In the United States, a growing number of policy
makers, bankers, manufacturers, and trade unions
grew fearful that the country might be closed out in
the struggle for global markets and raw materials
(fear of global competition).
European Imperialism
• By the mid-1890s, a
shift had taken place in
American attitudes
toward expansion.
• Why? Between 1870
and 1900, the European
powers seized 10
million square miles of
territory in Africa and
Asia.
• About 150 million
people were subjected
to colonial rule.
EXAMPLE of other Nations
(Imperialist)
 The British Empire controlled over ¼ of
World’s territory and population by 1900
Why U.S. Imperialism?
Reason # 2: (Fundamental Cause) Industrial
Revolution
• Industrialized nations desired colonies to
provide:
a) cheap supply of raw materials
b) a market for the mother country’s goods
c) large profits w/ minimum risk on investment of
SURPLUS CAPITAL
Why U.S. Imperialism?
Reason #3: Nationalism
• Used NATIONALIST arguments to gains
support for EMPIRE BUILDING.
a) gain glory & achieve a “place in the Sun”
b) secure essential military bases & war
materials
c) provide safety - missionaries spread
Christianity
d) bring to the backward areas the “blessings
of the civilized culture” of the West [Europe
& USA]
Why U.S. Imperialism?
Reason #4: Closing of the FRONTIER –
leads investors to look elsewhere for
economic opportunity
The Invisible Wars
 After 1865, the U.S. will advance U.S. Army
regiments to put down any Native American
resistance out west.
 Thousands of Native Americans will die from
battle, murder, and starvation. (Native American
resistance ends by 1890s… nearly all are forced
on reservations chosen by the gov’t)
 EX: Wounded Knee Massacre
 Americans will attempt to “Americanize” natives
(from changing of clothes, forcing Christianity, to
the changing of their names… destruction of
Native American culture)
Reason #5: Desire for Military Strength
• Desire for Sea Power
• Alfred Thayer Mahan
• a naval strategist and the
author of The Influence of
Sea Power Upon History
• argued that national
prosperity and power
depended on control of
the world's sea-lanes.
• "Whoever rules the waves
rules the world"
Justifications for Imperialism
1. Social Darwinism- “Some races are naturally
better than others.” Also known as “survival of the
fittest.”
2. “White Man’s Burden”- Europeans had a moral
duty to civilize primitive people.
3. Christian conversion- Some believed they needed
to spread the Christian message to the “heathen
masses.”
Belief in Social Darwinian
Struggle
• A belief that the
world's nations were
engaged in a Social
Darwinian struggle for
survival and that
countries that failed to
compete were doomed
to decline. This also
contributed to a new
assertiveness on the
part of the United
States.
Industrial revolution creates a superiority complex
among Western nations towards other nations
 Following the Industrial Revolution, Europeans regarded
their new technology (weaponry, telegraphs, railroads
etc.) as proof they were better than other peoples.
 This attitude is a reflection of racism, the belief that one
race is superior to others.
 Europeans believed that they had the right and duty to
bring the results of their progress to other countries.
White Man’s Burden
– A popular writer of the day was Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-
1936).
– Kipling appealed not only to his readers’ sense of adventure but
also the their feelings of superiority.
– He saw imperialism as a mission to “civilize non-Europeans” and
urged his readers to:
Take up the White Man’s BurdenSend forth the best ye breedGo bind your sons to exileTo serve your captives’ need…
Christian Conversion
 Some of this push for expansion of the European way of
life came from missionaries.
– One of the most famous of these missionaries was David
Livingstone, a minister from Scotland who went to Africa to
preach the Gospel and helped to end the slave trade there.
Wrap-up
• 1. Can you name any modern-day examples
of imperialism today?
• 2. Does the idea of White Man’s Burden still
exist in arguments today? Examples?
• 3. During the 1880s, were Christian
missionaries (whether they knew it or not)
pushing another agenda besides the gospel?